Indiana Religious Adherence

According to data from the 2010 U.S. Religion Census: Religious Congregations & Membership Study, Indiana is the 33rd most religious state (44.33% of the population are members of a religious group, calculations are my own). That's slightly less religious than Virginia (44.83%), but more religious than Ohio (43.96%). Of course, It's not so much how many religious people there are in an area that shapes its culture as it is what type. So I'll be breaking the data down by religious group. I'll also be going down to the county level, since the state level is too broad. For example, where I live in southern Indiana is significantly more religious than some other areas, and the mix of religious groups is very different. There's a higher proportion of evangelical Christians here than in other parts of the state where mainline Christian groups are stronger.

Below is the full data used. The last three columns (only one line of numbers) are simply totals for the US as a whole: total adherents, total population, and adherents as a percent of population.

And so it begins...

I joined the local Planet Fitness today. My work schedule will keep me from going until Friday evening, so this whole health project will officially begin Friday morning. That's when I'll post beginning measurements, etc.

I'm looking forward to this whole thing. It's something I've wanted to do for a while, and it'll be good for me in the long run. Probably some pain at first, though. At 53, it's definitely going to be interesting.

Exercise, Health, and Weight Loss Blogging

I've decided it's time to start getting some exercise. I'm having some blood glucose issues, as well as creeping weight gain. What worked for me a couple of years ago (limiting carbohydrates) isn't working as well anymore. I'm going to be using this blog as a kind of support/accountability site, so a lot of the posts here are going to be dedicated to this new project. What does that mean?

I'll be posting daily about my morning blood glucose levels and blood pressure readings. There'll be daily posts about my diet (what I've eaten, what I need to do better on), and my workouts. I'm joining a gym, and I'll be focusing at first on aerobic/cardio exercise. Lots of treadmill work. After a while, I'll start adding strength training. There will be weekly posts about my overall progress, including current weight and waist measurements. I understand things better visually, so I'm seriously thinking about tracking my progress with photos. Well, that's not entirely true: I've already decided I'll be doing that. I'm just not sure I want to include those photos in the blog. I'll admit it, I have some body image issues, and I'm not sure I want half-naked (or even shirtless) photos of me out on the internet. That's an issue I'm struggling with, so I'll see how I feel about it when the time comes. I may decide to push my boundaries, I may not.

I'll still write occasionally about other topics: politics, LGBT rights, book reviews, etc., just as I have in the past. But this will be the ongoing focus for some time. As always, I welcome comments (although they'll still be moderated to weed out spam), and look forward to sharing this new project with you.

Benefits of Vegetarianism

I'm thinking of going vegetarian, maybe even vegan (again). I know from past experience that it'll help me with some weight and blood glucose issues, so it makes sense for me to do it. Unfortunately, it's also not as easy or convenient for me to prepare meals and take them to work. I chose not to drive, so I rely pretty much on public transit. On this side of the river, that's pretty much a joke. I'm pretty sure, though, that I could do some decent vegetarian sandwiches (greens, cucumbers, radishes, avocado, maybe some tempeh) that would travel well.

We had lunch yesterday at a local café that focuses on area foods and has a lot of vegetarian/vegan options. I wanted to give it a try since it's moving into the café space at our library, and it's really good. If you're in the area, I can really recommend giving them a try: Earth Friends Café. The people are friendly, it's a comfortable space, and the food is fantastic! I had a cup of Farmers' Market Vegetable soup and a Power salad with Almond Chia dressing. The soup was one of the best I've ever had, with lots of vegetables including cabbage, carrots, potatoes and what appeared to be sun-dried tomatoes. The salad was delicious, with a nice peppery bite, lots of greens, carrots, sunflower seeds, shredded beets, and tomatoes (which I don't like, so I didn't eat them). I think the salad dressing, while wonderful, kind of clashed with the soup. That's not the fault of the caf´, but of my choices. Next time, I'll try the Spinach Strawberry salad with poppyseed dressing, which sounds just as good. Anyway, I'm going back to vegetarianism for a while and see how it works out. I usually like lighter foods in the summer, anyway, so it should go pretty well.

IE 9 Automatic Updates

As reported around the net today, Microsoft has announced that beginning in 2012, Internet Explorer 9 will be included as an important update in the automatic updates system. This is going to be a problem for me at work. A lot of our staff don't care for IE9 and will seek out computers with IE8 to do their work. The biggest problem for me is that there are an unknown number of web sites that just don't yet work well with IE9. Granted, that's the fault of the site creators, but it's still an issue for our IE9 users. Three sites that I know of in particular (the Kentucky unemployment site, our library's payroll service site and our library's book discussion site) have serious issues when using IE9. In fact, the Kentucky unemployment site simply won't work at all with IE9. This is a huge problem for our patrons, many of whom live in Kentucky but for various reasons use our computers to file their claims.

Fortunately, Microsoft is providing a tool to disable the automatic update to IE9. Unfortunately, that means I have to install it on every computer we have (currently around 100 public and staff computers). This is additional workload I don't need right now.

When Elves Attack, by Tim Dorsey

Serge and Coleman are back with all the gang in Tim Dorsey's new Christmas story When Elves Attack. Our favorite anti-hero decides it's time to celebrate the holidays in a big way and recruits City and Country to help out. With G-Unit along for the ride, you know there's going to be plenty of sparkle. Unfortunately, all these old characters make When Elves Attack a poor choice for newcomers to the Serge mythos. They'll be completely lost. Of course, there's lots of mayhem as Serge deals with bad guys, Grinches and naughty elves using his own special style. Along the way, he helps the Davenports (Jim and Martha) handle some family crises and defends them from thugs with pain in mind. He even guides their daughter Nicole through teenage angst and the pitfalls of young love.

Many people believe Serge is a psychotic serial killer, but in reality he's so much more. He's our collective id, doing battle with 21st century evil and stupidity. Serge is, dare I say it, a new Dark Knight with Coleman as his (literally) dopey Boy Wonder. He's also one of the great philosophers and commentators of our time:

"But why are we wearing elf suits?"
"To spread good cheer."
"What for?"
"Because of the War on Christmas."
"Who started the war?" asked Coleman.
"Ironically, the very people who coined the term and claim others started the war. They're upset that people of different faiths, along with the coexistence crowd who respect those faiths, are saying 'Seasons Greetings' and 'Happy Holidays.' But nobody's stopping anyone from saying 'Merry Christmas.'"
"And they're still mad?"
Serge shrugged. "It's the new holiness: Tolerance can't be tolerated."

Forget what I said earlier. Read the book even if you've never read any of the others. Sure, you'll be confused, but that's a common state in Dorseyland. Despite your confusion, you'll discover a great series with quirky, enjoyable characters and wonderful plots and you'll love the ride.

Seasons greetings, merry Christmas, and happy holidays!

Best Books I Read in 2011

It's that time of year again: time for year's-end "best of" lists. I'm going to start with the books I enjoyed most during the year. As it happens, they're all books from my library's reading groups: Brown Bag and a Book, and Murder by the Book. I like genre fiction better than literary fiction, so most of them come from the mystery group. Here, ordered by the author's last name, is the list: